Trump to speak to Putin on plague as US, UN urge transparency
US President Donald Trump plans to discuss a potential plague outbreak in Siberia with Vladimir Putin following reports of a laboratory technician's death. Washington and the UN are pressuring Moscow for transparency regarding the incident and potential quarantine measures.
Why it matters
The incident raises concerns about international health security and the potential for a biological hazard to spread, testing diplomatic transparency between the US and Russia.
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said he would speak very soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the reported plague death of a laboratory technician, as Washington and the United Nations called for transparency from Moscow.
Russian authorities denied that they were imposing anti-plague measures and played down the reports of an incident at a plague research institute in Siberia's Irkutsk region last week.
But Washington is showing growing concern, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on Russia to be open about the situation. The World Health Organization issued a similar appeal Tuesday.
"We encourage Russia to be transparent and share more information with the world so that all of us could react accordingly and appropriately," Rubio said during a trip to Iceland.
Trump later said he would be speaking to Putin about what happened.
Also covering this story
15 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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